Wedge Puller

B

bigcountry11

New member
Finally got my dragoon. Is a wedge puller really important. I see alot of used ones with scratches around the wedge.

I want to make sure not to bugar this one up. I plan on shooting quite a bit.
 
A small mallet made of wood will do the job without harming the finish. I use a rifle bullet starter to drive out the wedge as well as seating the wedge.
 
Just a Suggestion.

I make my own wedge pullers out of brass. I start with one of those large head brass fasteners that are used to anchor toilet seats down to their mounting flange. I grind flats on the stud end that can be used to as a drift punch or pusher and use the pan head as a lever. Again, these are brass and will limit the amount of marring on metal. .... ;)



Be Safe !!!
 
I don't have any problem at all with my Walker using a wooden crab hammer (that's also the same thing as a child's wooden peg hammer, but I digress).

I'm having a lot of problems with my Dance and Brothers wedge, though. That little catch does too good of a job holding the wedge in place, it's like I need to hold a screwdriver or a needlenose pliers against it so I can knock the wedge out. It's already marred the finish after only a few whacks. I've only taken the barrel off twice. I've only shot it once because it's such an annoyance to remove and therefore, to clean.
 
Fortunately, the wedge on my Uberti Pocket can be inserted and removed with simple thumb pressure.

I would suggest maybe a good polishing on yours. ;)
 
There is a flat headed screw overtop the wedge. The directions do not say to take that out. Does this screw secure the wedge? Or don't bother with it?

thanks,
 
Leave the screw be. It stops the wedge from falling out once its loosed, and stops the wedge from being hammered in too far.

I use a fairly hard rubber mallet to get out the wedge if it's too tight. Put it to half cock, then give it a good whack with the mallet directly from the side opposite of the screw. I usually just hold the pistol in my other hand, under the frame, not by the handle. A solid whack seems to do it most of the time. Actually seems to work much better than a bunch of tapping or pounding with a brass drift.
 
Leave the screw be. It stops the wedge from falling out once its loosed, and stops the wedge from being hammered in too far.
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On repros wedge shouldn't be hammered in at all. Most new guns only need wedge flush on off side. Drive it in too deep and cylinder gap will be too small and it can even bind cylinder against barrel.
 
Seems to me most I've found need a bit of tapping to get them back into place. I'm sorry if I made it sound like anyone should attempt to force it snug to that screw head...you shouldn't do that...but it does act as a stop to some degree for a loosely fitting wedge I would think.

The important thing is to have it not fall out, while bringing it tight (or loose) enough for the proper gap.
 
Here's something curious...My Uberti Walker was my first Colt. The wedge can almost come out. The Pietta Dance and Brothers wedge is backwards to the Walker, the wedge screw is on the other side. Is that correct? I have been putting the wedge back in as a mirror to the Walker. The D&B wedge falls completely out, also.
 
Both guns are 'correct'. The Walker is the only Colt design with the wedge installed from the right side; all others were installed from the left side.
 
I was scared I was putting it in backwards and upside down. :) I googled images of it and compared mine to the pictures to make sure. :)
 
The Walker wedge is the odd one. The small spring on the wedge should be up so the wedge screw catches it and stops it from coming completely off the barrel lug. When inserting the wedge, if everything is fit correctly the nose should be flush or very slightly out from the side of the lug. As parts wear or from incorrect fitting, the nose of the wedge can protrude further and further. Ideally the arbor bottoms out in the barrel lug just as the wedge is flush with the side of the lug. Most all Colt replicas have a short arbor.
 
I'm having a lot of problems with my Dance and Brothers wedge, though
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On most all newer or not Piettas you need not tap or push the wedge all the way thru the barrel assy, to latch it... they are made oversize a hair so as when the Rev breaks in & loosens up some the wedge need not bet replaced...them's my findings anyway...
 
Couple of things I noted from these posts. Uberti's almost always have short arbors. They use a tapered arbor to ry to limit how far on the barrel can go. Pietta uses a straight arbor and they mostly get it the correct length where it bottoms out in the arbor hole when the barrel lug meets the frame. In any case that should be the first thing checked and corrected, if need be, on a new gun. In no case should you use the wedge to adjust the barrel/cylinder gap.
Now to wedges. Uberti has the right idea. Their wedges have no taper on the flat towards the cylinder the taper being only on the side towards the muzzle. There is a corresponding taper in the end of the arbor. This allows the flat towards the cylinder to bear equally on the flats of the wedge slot on both sides of the barrel. A perfectly fit wedge will just have the radius protruding from the far side at the point you start to feel resistance. It will lock in place with a light tap and unlock the same way.
Pietta has not figured out the correct use of a wedge to lock things together. They have a 90 degree flat in the end of the arbor and tapers on both sides of the wedge. The wedge can only contact the near corner of the arbor slot on the inbound side. The taper on the side of the wedge near the cylinder allows the wedge to get through but only contact the barrel flat on that side. Then Pietta brings in Luigi the gorilla wedge setter to beat the thing in place. Fortunately all of this is correctable by the end user, but you shouldn't have to as it would be no more expensive for them to do it the correct way to start. One of my pet peeves with Pietta. I still like them as they have brought their quality way up in past years .
 
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